2019 CEV Volleyball European Championship - Men

#EuroVolleyM - Azerbaijan defeats Luxembourg 3-2.

The game between Luxembourg and Azerbaijan at the “Coque” in Luxembourg on Saturday night started with the first two sets being extremely balanced. Luxembourg missed to take the first one despite three set points and were unable to take a benefit from a three-point advantage (20-17). The same happened in the second set leaving the overall score at 0-2 in sets after one hour play.

Trailing again by 2-9 in the third set, Luxembourg’s Red Lions found the necessary resources to come back in the match and to equalise the set score at 2-2 after more than two hours in a real tough game against Azerbaijan, who, on their hand, were fighting hard for a second victory in a row in this competition.

The match in Luxembourg was to be decided in the tie-break with a happier ending, again, for Azerbaijan. Only three days ago, the Azerbaijan team did the same, winning in five sets over Sweden. Luxembourg’s players lost confidence right in the beginning of that final part by committing several unforced errors that helped Azerbaijan take the lead at 8-4. Despite a couple of substitutions on both sides, Azerbaijan managed to win the tie-break by 15-11, leaving Luxembourg with a regrettable defeat.

Torsten Schoof, Technical Director: “We started bad in the beginning with too many mistakes. The self-confidence that the players showed during their sparring matches in the preparation was present only in the third and forth set – and they managed to take it. This time this was not enough for winning, but the team will work to make their dream come true next time.”

Dieter Scholl, head coach of Luxembourg: “The game was in our hands, in the phases where we played badly as well as in the phases where we played well. We still need to mature to win the game and not to leave the victory to the opponent.”